Among the eighteen cities selected for CITIIS 2.0 is Thiruvananthapuram
The only city in Kerala selected by the Union government for the CITIIS 2.0 (City Investments To Innovate, Integrate, and Sustain) initiative is Thiruvananthapuram. The program’s main objective is to advance integrated waste management and climate-oriented reform with a focus on the circular economy. The CITIIS 2.0 challenge for 100 smart cities was introduced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in November of last year.
Up to 84 smart cities from all over the nation participated in the competition and sent in proposals to be included in the program being carried out in association with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), the European Union, the French Development Agency, and the German development bank KfW (KreditanstaltfürWiederaufbau).
MoHUA chose 18 cities for the program, including the state capital. The other cities selected are Agartala, Agra, Bareilly, Belagavi, Bilaspur, Guwahati, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Madurai, Muzaffarpur, New Town Kolkata, Panaji, Rajkot, Srinagar, Thanjavur, Udaipur, and Ujjain.
For the four-year scheme, the cities would get an allocation of Rs 135 crore, of which the Center will pay 80%.
The program’s primary components are support for climate action and financial and technical assistance for initiatives that advance a circular economy with an emphasis on integrated waste management.
Thiruvananthapuram corporation officials announced that the city has been selected for the competition’s suggested program.
“There are gaps in the current waste management initiatives, and our goal is to achieve complete coverage. We suggested an idea for a zero-waste city,” the person said.
